Welcome
fun-loving viewers to
our show today featuring
one of Mexico’s
most popular television
personalities,
Mr. Marco Antonio Regil.
Mr. Regil has hosted such
classic TV game shows
on Mexican television
as “The Price Is Right”
and “Are You Smarter
Than a 5th Grader?”

As a dedicated
humanitarian,
he’s been a National
Celebrity Cabinet Member
for the American
Red Cross,
a spokesperson for
the charity Children’s
International and
the annual host for
Mexico’s most important
charitable fundraiser
“The Telethon.”
In 2004, he was invited
by then US President
George W. Bush to host
the White House’s
celebration of
Cinco de Mayo,
a day that honors
Mexican heritage in
the US and is a national
holiday in Mexico.
And from 2008 to 2010,
Mr. Regil was voted
“most trusted television
celebrity in Mexico”
in a Reader’s Digest poll.

In addition
to his numerous
television endeavors,
Mr. Regil is also
a motivational speaker,
certified yoga instructor,
animal rights advocate,
plus much more!
Currently based
in Los Angeles, USA,
we asked Mr. Regil
to describe a typical day
in his life.

There’re no typical days.
There is sometimes.
I’m just getting up
in the morning and
going to the airport and
arriving in Mexico City
and going to rehearsal,
and then taping
two or three shows a day
and then coming back.
And when I’m not
working here, I’m doing
a master’s degree
in spiritual psychology,
so a typical day could be,
be all day in school in
a workshop environment.
I practice and teach yoga
sometimes, too,
and do meditation and
I have two dogs at home,
and so there’s
no typical day.

Mr. Regil wasn’t always
an international star.
It took years and years of
dedication and sacrifice
for him to get
to this point.

I did radio for 8-12 years
in a row until I got
my first big opportunity.
Long story short,
it’s been 12 years
(doing) radio, local TV
and cable and all that
until I got
“The Price Is Right”
in Mexico, it was 1997.
And from there with
“The Price Is Right,”
“Family Feud,”
“Dancing With the Stars,”
“Are You Smarter
Than a 5th Grader”
and other shows and
in the Mexican telethon
we do every year
where we raise about
US$40 million a year
for building handicapped
children’s facilities.
Not hospitals,
but rehabilitation centers
for them, so it’s been
26 years now.

Mr. Regil’s heart also
extends to our planet’s
animal co-inhabitants
as he chooses
the compassionate
plant-based diet.
How was Mr. Regil
introduced to this lifestyle?

I became vegan
almost three years ago,
and I was exposed
to the cruelty that
is the food industry,
exploiting animals.
Not only the food industry,
the medicine industry
with all of this testing
on animals, and
the clothing industry
with the way they treat
the animals and that.
So when I became
aware of the enormous
abuse that was applied
to all of these
beautiful species,
I got really sad,
honestly, because I said,
“Wow, it's like I had a veil
that didn't allow me to
see what was really there.”

And I’ve been part of this
by eating it, by wearing it,
by consuming
the products.
I did huge campaigns
for the fast food industry.
So when I became
exposed to that,
I became an active
supporter of PETA,
(People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals)
and the Humane Society
and other charities
related to animals, and
that has become a huge
passion in my life.

What led you
to finding out about
the animal industry?

That’s a great question.
It was a combination
of things. I started
practicing yoga first.
Seane Corn who's
a really a well-known
teacher in the yoga world,
I went to a three-day
workshop with her.

And she spoke about food.
She spoke about sugar.
She spoke about gluten.
She spoke about
genetically modified food
and the way
we're killing ourselves.
And she gave us some
information that really
made me wake up.
And she said,
“The practice of yoga
means union with God,
with every single being,
with all the animals, and
with the whole planet.”
She said, “If yoga
gives you something,
it should be a life
free of any addictions.”

And I was like,
I have addictions.
I have a food addiction.
I am addicted to sugar.
I am addicted to caffeine.
I'm addicted to many,
many, many things.
So I started doing research,
and the first thing
was I realized that there
was a direct relationship
between the way
we’re eating and obesity
and cancer and diabetes,
and the lack of peace
in the world
and all the violence.
And so I started
being exposed to that,
so I started
modifying my diet.
I realized Mexico and
the US share the first place
in the world
for child obesity
and adult obesity.

So I said, “Of course
there’s something wrong.”
I was gaining weight
myself as a matter of fact.

The next big step
on his vegan transition
was hiring one of
Hollywood’s most
famous vocal coaches,
Mr. Larry Moss.
On top of helping him
improve his
English pronunciation,
Mr. Moss,
a vegan for 20 years,
suggested Mr. Regil watch
PETA’s documentary
“Meet Your Meat.”

And it just shows you
with undercover cameras,
shows you how they treat
and kill the cows,
how the chickens live,
and how they're killed.
And they talk about
clothing and all that,
and these images,
they’re so horrible,
horrible things
that I'd never imagined.
And I remember
I was really shocked
when I saw that.
And I said, "Count me out.
I don’t want
to be part of this."
So I cried a lot
because I love animals.
I love animals
and I just think
that we are all the same.

And you’re not only eating
all of the hormones
and antibiotics
and all the medicines,
you’re eating
all that suffering.
And by buying the meat,
you are sponsoring
that industry.
And the animals
are paying that price of
our lack of consciousness.
So when I saw all of this,
I cried and I prayed
and I said, “I don’t know
what I am going to do,
I don’t know
how I am going to do it,”
because
I was a huge carnivore
being born in Mexico.
I would eat meat
four or five times a day.

For me having a big
steak and milk every day,
and eggs every day,
it was part of who I was.
I was not raised
in a Mediterranean diet
with lots of fruits and
vegetables and olive oil
and all of that.
I was raised eating a lot
of bacon, a lot of meat,
a lot of eggs, a lot of ham.
I was extremely
heavy on meat.

So I remember for me
it was more like
a spiritual calling.
And I said, "I don’t know
how I am going to do this,
God.
But I am not going to
create this (bad)karma.
I am not going to
create this suffering.
I am not going to be
a part of this."
So I made
a strong commitment.
So for me the vegan thing
became
a very spiritual thing.

What about vegan
restaurants that you like?

Well obviously
Loving Hut is one of them.
I love the Golden Mean
that is in Santa Monica.
I love Real Food Daily.
I like Planet Raw.
There’s another one in
Venice Beach called Seed.
There is a Native Foods
(restaurant).
I mean here in California,
you have so many options.
But having said that,
I know a lot of friends
that have been vegans
and vegetarians
in Mexico City
and other countries
in Latin America, without
all of these restaurants.

So what I'm doing
right in my life is
understanding that,
nobody has to tell me,
I proved it to myself that
money is not happiness.
And so I'm just going
back to the basics.
Going back to spirituality,
going back to the things
that make me happy.
So it's a new path.
So what I'm saying is
I became successful
in the physical world.
Now I'm developing myself
in the spiritual world.

What lies ahead for
the talented Mr. Regil?
He now shares his vision.

Well, the big goal
would be to create
a media production
company that creates
formats with whether
they're, animated shows
or comedy or
documentaries or game
shows or reality shows
that help people get
a glimpse of higher level
of consciousness,
empower people
which is not difficult,
you guys are doing it.
Oprah (Winfrey)
has done it,
Ellen DeGeneres
is doing it.

Like I said, many, many
other channels,
Discovery Channel,
and National Geographic
are doing it.
It has to be fun
so people watch it;
you cannot be
preaching or anything,
The episode finishes
and you laugh and
you had a good time
and you were entertained
and forgot your problems
for a little bit which is
the value of entertainment.

But also you have
something, you have
a good seed in your heart.
Some people are like,
“I could make my dream
come true.
I could live a better life.
I could eat a more
compassionate diet.
I could lose the weight.
I could learn something new.”
You know and
that's a beautiful feeling
and that's when I think
you rely on yourself with
a higher consciousness.

Thank you Mr. Regil
for reminding us that the
“ultimate prize”
in life is giving and
receiving love and
may your mission
to bring more peace
into our hearts and homes
through uplifting
television programming
soon be realized.

My name is Marco Regil,
I'm a TV host in Mexico
and the United States and
I want to encourage you
to "Be Veg,
Go Green
2 Save the Planet!"

For more information
on Mr. Marco Regil
please visit
www.ViviendoConMarco.com

Lively viewers,
thank you
for your company today
on Vegetarian Elite.
Coming up next is
Between Master
and Disciples.
May all your dreams
of success and happiness
come true, both
physically and spiritually.